Twas Brillig
by 4-Evah-Anonymous
Summary: Alice, a young girl staying in a small town for two weeks, will find more than she bargained when she goes snooping around in things that are hidden. Through the mirror, she's thrown into a world full of death, suffering, tyrannical queens and incredible horrors. Will her friends be able to guide her to her rightful place in Wonderland? Will she even survive? Rating may change.
1. Boredom and Curiosity

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

Do you know that feeling you get when you're falling? The rush of adrenaline that surges through your blood stream, making your stomach lurch into your chest. How fast your heart beats, slamming against your ribcage with a desperate fervor, like an animal trying to get out.

I'm falling now. My eyes are shut tight and the freezing updraft from below me is making my bare feet tingle strangely. I crack one eye open but I see nothing but light. Strange, vivid colors fading into one another fluidly. I can't see the place from where my descent began nor can I see where it will lead. My fall gains velocity and a scream tears from my throat. I screamed as though I thought someone could hear me. As though someone would save me from this certain death. But no one ever would.

All these sensations seemed so real. I'm screaming my throat raw now. I can't feel my feet. A voice sounds beside me but I can't make out the words

I give one final shriek...

And I wake up.

"Alice."

I shifted in my sleep. The sound of my screaming faded and was replaced by my father's voice, the rumbling of our old beat-up truck and the voice of the lead singer of my father's favorite band.

"We're almost there. Time to get up."

I forced my eyes open halfway and groaned, stretching my arms over my head. We had been crammed into his old red pick-up for two days now and I had slept for three hours in total. And that was just now. We were on this ridiculously long car journey from our home in New York City to California because my Aunt was rotting in her casket down in Los Angeles and my father apparently couldn't bear to bring me to the funeral. So, as an alternative, he was dropping me off in a little town on his way south to stay with my grandfather for two whole weeks.

Sigh.

I looked out the window. It was getting darker now, probably around 7PM, seeing as there was still light enough for me to see a green road sign that read 'Rio Vista City Limit.'

Rio Vista. It was a tiny hellhole in northern California, lodged right in the middle of fucking nowhere. Better yet, it was the hell hole in which I grew up. It was the kind of town where _everyone_ knew _everything_ about _everyone_ and decided that others business was indeed their business as well. You ever hear that phrase, "hell is other people"? Here's what they were referring to. Nothing bad or particularly exciting ever happened in Rio Vista, so as you could probably tell it was not where any 17-year-old would want to be. The most entertainment you could find here would be about two miles outside of the populated area of town in a collection of completely vacant houses which had been boarded up since to goddamn Cold War.

"Don't look so sour, Honey. I'm sure you'll feel right at home in a couple of days."

I scoffed and tapped my fingers on the window in time with the song's beat. My home was a small apartment near Times Square where my father and I had lived since my mother left when I was a child.

Back in New York I had a really tight knit group of friends. We always had each other, even when we were in deep trouble and even when we had nothing else. Here, I didn't even have them.

It was times like these, when my father was waving goodbye to me from the truck and I was standing in front of my Grandfather's red front door, index finger hovering over the doorbell, that I really wish I was someone else. I wish that I was any of my friends, especially Izzy Walker, a sweet, blonde girl who I met in the 5th grade and became fast friends with who was currently down in Disney World with her parents and little sister. Or maybe my mother, Hanna, off in some distant country being perfectly entertained. Wherever she was, it had to be wonderful. After all, she left us for it. Hell, I'd rather be that woman in her coffin down in LA, just so long as I didn't have to be here.

I took a deep breath and pushed down on the door bell. I wasn't just going to stand there and wish because, I'm not any of those people and no amount of wishing would ever change that. I am Alice Laurel.

My grandfather pulled open the door. My fate was sealed.

"Alice! It's so good to see you!"

He hugged me tight, almost making me drop my suitcase. He was a big man, meaning in this case, both tall (about 6'2") and wide (He had a definite beer belly). Needless to say, being hugged by him was...a winding experience.

He led me inside and I glanced around. It was a big, two story house with lots of windows, white walls, and blue carpet. There were more books and nick-knacks than you could count in a year and I had a good mind to try and devour the entire library. The furniture was all coated in plastic and the smell of dust hung heavy in the air. A rather fat calico cat sat on a book shelf, staring down at me warily.

"Your room's up the stairs and to the right." Grandpa told me, patting my head and ruffling my short black hair. I nodded and carried my case up the stairs. I turned down the hall and peeked into the room I had been directed to. There was a queen-size bed in the middle of the room and an old television on the dresser. The big window was covered by billowy lace curtains and the walls were a pale baby blue. I set my bag on the floor next to the bed and sat down, trying my best to ignore the cloud of dust that rose up when the covers were disturbed.

I looked down at myself. I hadn't gotten a chance to change or shower since setting off on the car trip. I was wearing an old yellow sundress that had belonged to my mother along with denim shorts, long black and white striped stockings and black, scoffed up combat boots. I let out a sigh, fiddling with the ruffled hem of the dress, remembering the photograph that sat on my father's dresser of my mother with her curly black hair and small smile standing beside him in this very dress.

I removed my large bulky shoes and set to exploring the upper story as opposed to reminiscing. I found two studies, one bathroom and the master bedroom. The only thing that struck me as odd was that nowhere, not even in the bathrooms could I find a single mirror.

As I look over to the master bedroom, my curiosity began to take hold of my reason and beat it to a bloody pulp. I inched over to the door and opened it. I sighed in relief, seeing no living thing in the room. I explored a bit of the room before I heard a loud meow at the master bathroom's door. I spun around to find the calico cat sitting patiently before the door. I opened it for her and looked inside. Still no mirrors but there was a very odd looking door at the end of the room. It was made of ebony which contrasted darkly with the near-white color scheme of the entire house. There where four imprints one on each corner of the door. A heart, a diamond, a spade and a club. I became entranced by it and moved closer, step by step, inch by inch.

_"...Alice..."_

I halted for a moment. I could have sworn I heard my name, called but still whispered, soft but urgent from behind that mysterious door. I lifted my hand and my fingers twitched as I reached out for the silver doorknob.

_"...Aliiice..."_

My fingers brushed the cold metal.

"Alice!"

My grandfather's shout from downstairs made me jump almost a foot in the air.

"Time for dinner!"

I turned away from the door, my trance shattered and ran down the stairs, that stupid fat cat in tow.

**AN: **

**Okay, so this is a rewrite of my first story ever Modern Alice. There will be major and minor changes and I hope that it will be generally all around better, not to mention longer and more intense. I went back and read Modern Alice and realized that it really does have a special place in my heart and it doesn't deserve to just stay a piece of crap that I finished when I was 13. So here you go. I hope you enjoy and please, review.  
**

******Much love,**

**Evan.  
**


	2. The Poet

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

The morning after my arrival, my grandfather called me down to the kitchen and passed me a plate of pancakes.

"So, Alice, have you got any plans for today?" He asked me, sitting down at the table across from me with his own plate. The smell of the breakfast was almost intoxicating after two days of eating nothing but junk food bought at gas stations.

I thought for a moment. I knew that I had seen just about everything there was to see inside this plastic wrapped abode, aside from what was behind that door.

'_That can wait until later...I probably wouldn't get away with snooping at this time of day anyway._'

"I was thinking I'd go exploring the town." I decided on a whim. What harm could it do to see the place where I grew up? I didn't think that anyone would bother me and I might just find something interesting to do...

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

He nodded and I took a bite of my pancakes, enjoying the first taste of a good breakfast I hadn't had in days. He continued speaking. "Do you think you could pick up a few things for me while you're out?"

I shrugged, swallowing down my food. "Sure, why not?"

We finished our breakfast in companionable silence for the most part. We would occasionally start up a bout of small talk. He'd ask me about school, my friends and my plans for college and I'd tell him, then ask about his life here in return. After we were done and had washed off our plates in the sink, he gave me some money and told me what stores to go to and what to get there. I went up to my room and changed into a loose black blouse and a pair of brown cargo pants. I pulled on green and yellow striped socks and my combat boots. I rushed down the stairs, eager to go outside. My grandfather waved at me and I took my leave.

Walking down the streets, I realized that generally, everything shop-wise was clustered on Main Street and the couple streets branching off from there. There was a dentist's, a grocery store, a consignment shop, a smoothie shop, a video store and a pharmacy, just to name a few. I glanced at the list my grandpa had given me and stopped at the pharmacy on the corner to pick up his medication. The woman behind the counter seemed kind enough, not questioning me much after asking my name and relation to Mr. Laurel. Once she heard that I was his granddaughter, she looked as though she had filed the information away in her brain for later or something. I took my leave after that, with a bottle of pills in a small pharmacy bag as well as a small box of chocolates in my pocket.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for candy.

Walking down the street, I turned and went towards the grocery store, taking in the calm image of a park across the street. On one of the swings sat a young man around my age with fluffy brown hair and bright blue eyes hidden behind half-moon glasses. He wore a long brown coat and navy blue pinstriped pants and had a notebook opened up on his lap. His pen scribbled easily across the page, hardly ever pausing. I felt a smile tug at my lips, wondering if maybe I really could make friends here.

The boy seemed to have caught the attention of a surly-looking group of much larger teenagers who then started towards him. The poor thing didn't seem to notice until it was too late and a particularly muscular teen snatched the notebook from his hands. He immediately jumped to his feet looking very distressed. I started across the street, filled with my special brand of curiosity that often got me in trouble. I got close enough to hear the group of boys making fun of whatever it was he had written.

"What the hell is this, Carroll? These aren't even words, dumbass."

The boy he referred to as Carroll snatched at the notebook desperately. "That's the point! It's just a nonsense poem!"

"Aw, now he's writing poetry! How fucking cute!" One of the other boys cooed sarcastically while the the teen holding the notebook shoved Carroll away roughly. He watched in horror as the young man tore the page from the notebook. At that moment, I had reached the group and I snatched the notebook out of his hands.

"Excuse me, but what the fuck is you're problem?"

My friends always told me to pick my battles better, and I obviously didn't listen. Yet, as I looked up at this towering bag of scum, I regretted nothing.

"Look, little girl, this is none of your business."

I ground my teeth slightly in rage. I hated the term 'little girl'. My 18th birthday was next month. I was _not_ a little girl. "Well, it is now because I'm really tired of dicks like you guys thinking you're goddamn kings." I handed Carroll his notebook back and held out my hand. "The paper, if you please."

"Here you go." he said with a sneer as he tore the paper in two and then in half again. Carroll made a strangled sound from behind me and I rolled my eyes as the discarded shreds floated innocently to the ground. The group of boys shared a laugh and left the area.

I turned to the young man behind me and held out my hand. "I'm sorry about your poem. I'm Alice."

He smiled sadly and shook my hand. "Charles Carroll. And don't worry about it, it was only the first stanza. I don't know what to do with it after that but I feel like if I can find something it'll be really great." He stopped. "I'm sorry...I'm babbling."

I laughed softly. "Don't worry about it. I really like poetry. Mind telling me what it was?"

"W-well..." He hesitated, fidgeting nervously. "I suppose it would be fine for you to hear it..." He cleared his throat and stopped fidgeting.

_"`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe."_

It was a very small chunk of a poem and the words made very little sense but I was completely entranced by it. It flowed from Charles' lips like a song and borrowed it's way into my brain.

"That was beautiful..." I couldn't stop myself from saying so and when a huge, bright smile lit up his face, I was glad that I'd said it.

"really? You really think so?"

I nodded and he grinned, shutting the notebook and stuffing it into the black, beat up shoulder-bag he wore. "Thank you so much...it really means a lot."

"It's no problem. I'm glad I could help." I smiled at him. "So have you lived here long?"

He nodded. "born and raised. I'm really happy to see a new face, though. When did you move in?"

"I'm just staying for two weeks. I was born here, though."

He smiled brightly. "I see. Well, then would you like a tour? I can't promise that too much has changed but we'll probably find something."

I nodded with a smile. "That sounds fun. Let's go!"

The following couple hours were filled with laughs. No matter where we went, he always seemed to find a way to make me smile. I had only ever met one other person who was this easy to talk to before in my life and that was my friend, Shannon, back in New York. He took me around Main Street, showing me each of the stores and I got to finish the shopping to boot. He introduced me to the little Russian woman, Anna, who ran the consignment shop and we stopped by the smoothie place and proceeded to get brain freezes.

Walking down a narrow street towards the outskirts of town, Charles and I finished up our smoothies and disposed of them in a garbage bin in front of a rundown old baseball diamond. He continued down that way, the houses growing less and less frequent and the thick, green, manicured lawns giving way to a dead, yellow, overgrown field. A ways in the distance I saw the tops of houses rising.

"what's that over there?" I questioned curiously.

Charles looked to where I was pointing. "That? Well, they tried to build a little community out here a few years back, but it's so far from town that no one ever bought the homes. It's a shame, most of them are actually quite lovely."

I smiled and grabbed him by the hand. "Come on!"

"A-Alice! Hey, don't run! I-I can't keep up!"

Minutes later, Charles was leaning against the outer wall of one of the houses that he had spoken of, trying hard to catch his breath. I leaned over, laughing breathlessly. "Sorry, Charles...I just got excited."

"I-It's no...problem..."

"Well...wanna go in?" I asked with a grin and a gesture to the front door of the two story yellow house that we were in front of.

He blinked in shock. "I-In there? I-isn't that t-t-trespassing?"

I shrugged. "does it matter? No one's gonna come out here anyway."

He chewed his lower lip nervously. "I-if you say so."

I grinned and walked up to the door. I took a half step back and gave the door a powerful kick. The wood splintered some and I backed up once more and sent another kick into it. It gave a painful creek and swung open forcefully.

I took his hand once again and pulled him inside.

I halted mid-step and Charles collided with me clumsily. We stared at our surroundings in confusion and surprise. All around us, there were hundreds of mirrors, piled up on the floor, leaned up against walls and stuffed into the closet. I stared around at the multitude of reflections and could hardly contain my curiosity. Why were all of these here? What a weird place...

"_...Alice...come closer..._"

_'That voice...It was the same one that I had heard at my grandfather's house. It was coming from...'_ I turned towards the sound to face a huge, ornate, full-body mirror. '_There? But...that's not possible..._'

I took a step towards it.

"_...Save us, Alice..._"

Another step.

A loud crash interrupted my trance and I spun around to see that Charles had fallen to the ground and ended up shattering a mirror. He clutched his head in pain and a tear slid down his cheek. I rushed over and slung his arm around my shoulder, helping him to his feet. "Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"I-I'm fine...I just get these migraines sometimes..."

I frowned and helped him outside, mirrors completely forgotten. He took a deep breath of fresh air. "Come on, my house is closer and you could probably stay for dinner or something." I helped him down the road and up to my house. I pushed open the door and sat him down on the couch. I walked to the kitchen and got him an ice-pack, all the while looking around for my grandfather, who was nowhere to be seen.

I gave Charles the cooling device and started up the stairs, looking for him still. I heard his voice from behind his bedroom door. I stepped closer and was about to knock when I heard a very unfamiliar voice as well. It was clear and deep without much emotion to it.

"What are you doing with this here? The rabbit is calling for her, you know that. I thought we ordered you to get rid of all of these."

"I know, I know..." That was my grandfather. "That mirror just meant so much to my wife is all, I couldn't bear to get rid of it..."

"It's dangerous to have it around. You best make sure she never gets to it or it'll mean your head."

I pulled back, full of curiosity and confusion. I walked back downstairs as quietly as I could and took Charles up to my room to recover. One thing was for certain. I was definitely getting past that door tonight.

And Charles was coming with me.

**AN:**

**I'm having a lot of fun here. Charles is a thinly veiled nod to Charles Dodgson/ Lewis Carroll.  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan.  
**


	3. Through the Looking Glass

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

I spent the rest of the evening acting as though nothing was amiss. My grandfather called me down for dinner and I simply asked if I could take it up and eat in my room, seeing as I was feeling particularly tired. He seemed to understand and soon I was on my way upstairs with a plate full of corn beef, cabbage and potatoes. I slipped into the room and smiled at Charles who was sitting on my bed, leaning back against the headboard. I sat at the foot of the bed, setting the plate between us and we shared the dinner in companionable silence.

Once we were done, we began to discuss how to go about breaking into that secret room, otherwise known as our 'battle plans'.

"We could just go now?" I suggested, practically dying from curiosity.

He shook his head. "N-No, that wouldn't be wise. What if we were caught? We should just wait until he's asleep, then sneak in. W-we'll have to be quick. Quiet, too."

I let out an unhappy sigh and flopped onto my back, sprawling across the bed. "I hate waiting."

He chuckled softly. "I can tell." His eyes wandered around my room, taking in his surroundings. His gaze landed on the folded clothes on my dresser. It seemed that my grandfather had washed my clothes from yesterday and put them there. "I-Is that a dress?" He asked, barely stifling a laugh.

I frowned over at him. "Yeah, you got a problem?"

He shook his head. "N-not at all, you just don't strike me as the dress type..."

I grinned. "You don't think I can pull it off, huh? That sounds like a challenge."

His eyes widened as I stood up and snatched the yellow dress from it's place. "Wh-what? Where are you going?"

I went to the door, brushing my bangs out of my face. My normal spikes had wilted and now my hair fell flat, barely reaching my neck. "To change and prove you wrong." I walked out of my room with the dress, making sure to shut the door behind me.

Some odd minutes later, I walked back inside, tying the lacy white ribbon in a bow around my waist. Charles was still sitting on my bed, writing in his notebook with a fixated attention. I smoothed out the flouncy golden skirt and cleared my throat.

He jumped and looked over at my. His eyes widened and his face tinted red. "A-Alice! You look...Y-y-you l-look..." He swallowed hard. "You look very nice..."

I chuckled and curtseyed clumsily. "Thank you, good sir."

His face turned a darker shade of red and I laughed, sitting back down on the bed. "Hey, isn't it getting a bit late? Won't your parents be worried?"

The warm, subtle happiness in his eyes vanished, to be replaced by a stoney sadness that almost hurt to see. "I don't have parents."

It wasn't usually in my nature to pry but...Aw, who am I kidding, I was curious. "What do you mean?"

"I-I..." He took a deep breath. "I was placed in foster care when I was 12...The couple I'm with now couldn't care less about me...they're just in it for the money and to make them look good...I'm sure they're glad I'm gone..." He let out a shaky laugh. "I'm glad for that too..."

I tilted my head, wondering how a guy like Charles had gotten into foster care. I was about to ask when my thought process was sharply interrupted by the grandfather clock downstairs chiming 10 O'clock.

Charles cleverly changed the subject. "Only a few more minutes now."

I sent him a look of exasperation. "Come ooooooooon! Let's just go now! I'm sure he's asleep!"

He sighed. "A-alright, alright..." He stood up and went to the door. "ready to go?"

"wait a second." I went to my suitcase and pulled out a long, heavy flashlight. "Alright, let's go."

On that note, we slipped out of my room as quiet as could be. I went along barefoot to avoid making to much noise but Charles had retained his scoffed up brown sneakers just in case. In case of what, I had no idea.

I held my flashlight tightly in my right hand, switched off for now, as I opened the door to my grandfather's room. I flinched as it creaked a bit and Charles took a step back.

My eyes were peeled wide open, staring into the almost blackness and heart was beating right out of my chest as He and I slipped along the wall. I kept my eyes on my grandpa's sleeping silhouette, watching for any movement. We reached the bathroom and crept towards the door.

This time, I heard no voice. I turned my back to the bedroom and reached for the knob. I was so transfixed that I didn't hear Charles whisper my name frantically. He tapped my shoulder to get my attention and whispered in my ear.

"I think we've been caught."

I spun around to come face to face with my grandfather standing in the doorway. "Alice. Step away from the door."

I shook my head. "What's in there?"

"It's for your own good. Step away."

"No!" I grabbed Charles' hand tightly.

"Alice Prudence Laurel, take your hand off that doorknob!"

"I will not!"

I yanked the door open just as my grandfather made a dash towards us. I pulled Charles through the doorway after me and slammed the door hard in my grandpa's face. We both leaned against it heavily but mere seconds later, he slammed his fists on the door and managed to shove it open, sending both Charles and me to the floor. The flashlight flew out of my hand and rolled away.

Charles got up first and grabbed it off the floor. He rushed over and stood between my grandfather and myself, holding the flashlight aloft threateningly. I got to my feet unsteadily and looked around the room, searching for whatever it was that my grandfather was so desperate to hide.

The room was small, like a secret annex of sorts, almost pitch black if not for the moonlight streaming from the small window on the wall. The only thing in the room was a large rectangular shape covered by a white sheet. I walked over slowly while the two men were staring each other down and lifted the vale. It fell away and I was gazing into my own eyes.

It was a mirror. A large rectangular mirror. "This is it?" I spun back around to glare at my grandparent. "This is what you were hiding? Nothing but this mirror?"

"I did it to protect you. Please, come away from there...You're in terrible danger."

I scowled. "What do you mean...? It's just a mirror!"

"Not quite." I spun around at the sound of another voice and gasped in terror as my reflection was replaced by that of young man. He was about 2 years older than me with long white hair tied in two low pony tails that floated around him weightlessly. His eyes were large and ruby red, shielded by rectangular glasses. Two long white rabbit ears poked out of the top of his head and he wore blue waist coat and a red and gold tie along with tan slacks.

I was too awestruck to speak and so the mysterious rabbit continued to speak. "Don't dawdle, Alice. We've all been waiting for you for a very long time." He pulled a golden pocket watch from his waistcoat pocket, tapping the clock face impatiently. "you're late. Come through the mirror now, dear and save us."

"Th-through the mirror?"

"Alice!"

I spun around to see my grandfather lifting Charles off the ground. I glanced back but the rabbit-man had vanished. I watched helplessly as Charles was hurled through the air and slammed right into me. I staggered back and braced myself, expecting to fall back against the mirror.

The impact never came. Instead, I felt an icy wave wash over me and my eyes widened as I continued to fall backwards, unhindered. Charles gasped as he clutched onto my hand, falling with me.

Something I never thought possible had just happened. We just fell _through_ the glass. We were falling _inside_ the mirror!

I clung onto Charles' hand and shut my eyes tight as we fell faster and faster. When I opened them, I gasped as I was met with a familiar vertical tunnel full of colors. I began to panic. This was my dream.

"Alice!" I looked over to Charles, falling right beside me. "Hold on tight, okay? We'll b-be f-fine, I promise...!"

"Why the fear, Alice?"

I looked over to my other side quickly and came face to face with the rabbit-man's intense, crimson stare.

I stared at him in shock. "How the hell do you know my name? Who are you?"

He gave me a slight smile. "My name is Theodore. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

I frowned. "Uh huh, right. So where are we going exactly?"

"This is one of the passages to Wonderland. A world that you will save."

My eyes widened. "You...you've got the wrong person, I'm no hero..."

He laughed and took my free hand. "Nonsense, you're precisely what we need." he looked past me and his gaze settled on Charles. "And you are, sir?" He asked politely.

"Erm...Ch-Charles Carroll..."

Theodore smiled softly. "I see. Lovely to meet you as well. I'd shake your hand but..." He trailed off gesturing to the tunnel we were falling through.

Charles nodded, face white with fear, unable to speak any longer.

We continued our downward spiral in silence.

**AN:**

**I'm three chapters in already and not one review. I'd really appreciate at least one per chapter, even a 'good job' or 'I like this' I'm not that picky, just give me some feedback if you're reading this, please?  
**

**Much love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	4. Grinning Shadows

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

My feet touched soft ground moments later, landing much lighter than I thought I would. I was expecting to at least break a few bones with the velocity and length of the fall, however all three pairs of feet involved touched down almost weightlessly. I was definitely sure that this couldn't be a dream, after all, weren't you supposed to be unable to finish a fall in your dreams? However, all of my reason screamed against this being reality. Luckily for me, I never claimed to be reasonable.

My eyes were shut tight at first. I was almost afraid to open them, seeing as I had no idea what it was I'd see. My lungs filled with the freshest air I'd ever breathed, smelling faintly of daisies, roses and fresh rain. There was complete silence for what felt like an eternity until it was broken by a soft gasp of awe from beside me.

I opened my eyes slowly, still testing that the ground was steady beneath my feet. At first, my vision was blotched by spots of darkness which seemed to move like something living. I blinked a few times, rubbing my eyes to make them vanish. Once my vision was clear, my brain could hardly process all I was seeing. It was night that much was obvious, but there was something different about the night. The sky was huge, bigger than I had ever seen it in the city, and the stars lit it up brilliantly, all different colors, shining from the deep blue abyss. The formed breathtaking constellations, shaping figures I had never seen or heard of. I saw what looked to be planets orbiting at an alarming rate. The stars seemed so much closer to us here and as I turned my head to look around, I could have sworn that I saw a second moon peeking above the stunningly red leaves of the pale-barked trees. I reached out to one of the stars, pointing at it, and slowly twitched my finger to the right. The star, to my shock, followed my finger's movement, zipping a short ways to the right.

Theodore grabbed my hand and pulled it down. "Now, now, we don't have time to rearrange the stars."

I looked at him with a frown and pulled my hand from his grasp. "It's very rude to just pull people around."

"We haven't the itime/i for manners, Alice."

I sighed angrily and was about to turn away from him when a little voice buzzed in my ear.

"Alice?"

I turned around, looking for the source of the voice but seeing nothing. The tiny chatting noises continued all around my head and I swore I could feel tiny hands yank my hair once or twice.

"Alice?"

"Alice?"

"Alice?"

"Did he say Alice?"

"Is Alice finally here?"

"Will she save us?"

"Hello."

I looked down at the greeting, going a bit cross-eyed to stare at the tiny thing that had just landed on my nose. It was a tiny little rocking horse with wings. I fumbled fro what to say before simply deciding to be polite. "H-Hello? Who are you?"

"I'm just a rocking horse fly. But you're Alice."

"Y-yes, I know."

Do you know just how odd it is to speak with a tiny wooden horse perched upon your nose? Very odd. Even more so when said tiny creature lets out an excited whiny and zooms away along with several others of its kind that you didn't even know where there.

"Just what iis/i all this?"

"It's iwonderful/i!" Charles spoke up for the first time since landing. He had pulled out his notebook (I'm truly not shocked that he took it along) and had begun jotting something down ecstatically.

Theodore rolled his crimson eyes and his lips quirked upwards. "Well, it iis/i Wonderland. Now come along, children we're wasting time."

My eyes narrowed unhappily. "I am inot/i a child."

He blatantly ignored me and went over to a dusty path, paved with what appeared to be red stained glass. The towering red-leaved trees loomed over it, making an archway of sorts and massive amounts of vivid green moss and ivy crept up their thick trunks. Large blue heart-shaped flowers sprouted from these vines and Theodore tapped his gloved fingers on one of them. It lit up, illuminating the path. The next followed suit and then the next, and the ones after it as well, until the path was lit as far as I could see it stretch.

Theodore looked back at Charles and me, tossing his head in the general 'onwards' direction. "Come along, you two. Or has the grass taken a liking to you?"

We both looked down at our feet. Soft blue grass was slowly creeping up and curling around my toes. Charles stared as the grass tugged at his shoelaces like a curious infant. I took his hand and stepped confidently onto the path after Theodore.

After we had been walking for a good 15 minutes, I saw Theodore's ears twitch slightly and perk up. His crimson eyes narrowed, skeptically, looking around through the trees, seeming to search for something. "There is someone in the trees." He whispered into my ear. "And I have a sneaking suspicion of who it might be…"

I looked around into the branches, once again transfixed with curiosity. It really was a bad trait of mine, to be so curious, but my instincts hadn't steered me wrong thus far...That is, unless, you think that dragging you're new friend through a mirror after a possibly deranged rabbit-man is wrong. If that's the case, I regret nothing. Suddenly, a violent shiver shot down my spine. Chilling laughter echoed through the trees, seeming to carry a tune of sorts. Like some horrid twist of a children's song.

Theodore sighed and shook his head. "Quinn! I know that's you, now stop hiding! You're going to frighten Alice!"

I resisted the urge to tell him flat out that I was, under no circumstances, frightened when a massive, inhuman grin with ridiculously sharp teeth and two huge amber eyes with slits for pupils materialized from within the shadows of the branches in a particularly large tree. I stared in confused wonder, taking an unconscious step nearer.

"Frighten her?" The face laughed at Theodore's angry expression and it's deep, sultry voice, reverberating off of the trees, sent more shivers down my spine with it's demented echo. "Then I should consider myself to have a talent! It is not easy to frighten the brave, now is it? Besides, the boy seems more frightened than she is." The amber eyes focused on me closely. It was true, Charles was clutching my hand like a lifeline.

I scrambled for a response that I found suitable and spat out, "Stop your bullshit."

The face slowly became a whole as it laughed raucously in my face. Thick black hair fell into a tan-skinned face with markings like stitches on the cheek-bones as the large amber eyes slowly turned a more purple-blue color. Tight black clothing covered the body attached to the head, though not very well. A flat stomach was exposed, showing off a pierced belly button and what looked to be black, symmetrical, tribal tattoos around it. His shiny black pants hugged his body and long, clunky, platform boots rose to his knees. Two black cat ears poked from the top of his head and a matching tail swished behind him. I heard the faint jingle and saw that there was a silver skull-shaped bell tied around his tail with red ribbon.

"Keep your temper, little lady." He purred teasingly. "Remember, you need your head to survive. That and it would be such a shame for you to lose that pretty little head of yours."

"Don't call me 'little lady'. You're just as young as I am." I snapped as authoritatively as I could. "And just what do you call yourself, eh, Cat?"

He grinned widely, showing off that same unnerving, massive smile. "I am Quinn DeMuse, at you're service...ilittle lady/i." He held out his clawed hand to shake.

I glanced at Theodore, wondering what to do. He didn't seem to trust this guy too much and, honestly, neither did I, but I couldn't just trust Theodore right off the bat, either. He shook his head at me, gesturing for me not to touch the outstretched hand.

I frowned and decided not to heed his warning. I prefer thinking for myself.

I reached out and grasped Quinn's hand and shook it firmly. "Alice Laurel."

He grinned. "Oh, of course! You're Alice! I'm shocked I couldn't tell from the resemblance."

"Resemblance…?" I asked genuinely confused.

"I would tell you, but Bunny over there would hit me, or pull my tail or something. And honestly, that's something I would like to avoid, M'kay, Doll?"

I scowled at the pet name but just as I was about to speak, Quinn leaned forward and whispered in my ear. "If you come with me, I'll take you to see someone who can tell you."

He smirked at Theodore, who, I could tell was grinding his teeth.

I thought a moment but nodded. "I'll go."

Theodore quickly stepped forward. "You can't!"

I frowned. "But why not? I'm really curious..." I gave him my best pleading look, which, I'll admit, I'm shocked, worked.

Theodore frowned but nodded, reluctantly. "Alright, alright. But I'm coming too."

Charles looked over at me. "S-so am I."

"Was there ever any doubt that you were?" I smiled at him. He smiled back sweetly and shook his head.

"I wouldn't let you go on any adventures without me."

Quinn clapped his hands excitedly. "Wonderful, marvelous, the more, the merrier and all that crap! Calloo, Callay, and we go away!" He rhymed joyously.

And on that less than pleasant not he led us all away, off the path and into the dark void of the forest.

**AN:**

**FANTASTIC! I do so love happy endings. I'm gloriously happy about my lovely reviewer whom I'm sending all my love to, if I lose everything in the fire.  
**

**If anyone gets that reference feel free to tell me and you'll get a cookie. Oh and you know, while you're at it REVIEW, POZHALUISTA! Or 'review, please' if you want me to stick to English.  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	5. Family Ties

**I do not own Alice in Wonderland**

* * *

When Quinn said, 'we go away,' he sure as hell meant 'away'. We had been walking for what felt like hours and the sun still hadn't risen even an inch. I was beginning to wonder if there even _was_ a sun in this twisted realm.

I would've killed for shoes right then, my toes were starting to feel numb. It's not that I mind walking around barefoot for hours in the cold, it's just that…No, scratch that, I definitely mind walking around barefoot for hours in the cold. Just as soon as I began to grumble to myself about cursing that stupid cat's face right out of existence, Quinn came to a halt. He stopped so suddenly that Charles, who was a couple steps in front of me, looking around like a child in Disney Land, walked right into him. He stumbled back and would have fallen if I hadn't reached out and caught him by the arm. For someone who was easily six feet tall, he was very lightweight. Quinn turned sharply, ignoring the fact that he had just become quite the road block, and knocked three times on a tree trunk.

I frowned, wondering if Quinn had just gone off the deep(-er) end.  
I certainly wasn't expecting the trunk to swing up like a gull-wing door and for someone to call out, "Intrude!" with a sharp voice like the crack of a whip.

Quinn's monstrous smile took it's place on his face and he grabbed me by the arm, about to lead me inside. Theodore shot him a look that seemed almost threatening. Was he being protective? Quinn seemed to get the message better than I had and he relinquished his hold on my arm and instead pushed me inside. Charles followed close behind and finally, after a one-sided glaring match, Theodore and Quinn did as well. I looked around. It was a huge inside, much bigger than it looked from the outside. Not what you'd expect from a tree, then again, any form of civilized home could hardly be expected from the inside of a tree, let alone something as magnificent as this.

The floor on which we all stood seemed to be made of mirror and was unscratched and spotless, showing a perfect reflection of us and the towering ceiling above us. That, too, was made of the same material as the floor, producing a dizzying double mirror effect. Candle chandeliers hug suspended in mid-air, each individual flame burning a brilliant gold. Two spiraling staircases led up, to what, I wasn't sure and a beautiful grand staircase led to the second floor landing and up again to the third. There was hardly any furniture on the first floor, only a white grand piano over by the wall and a large red rug, on which a white and gold loveseat sat, it's shining legs ending in twisted, clawed feet. My attention, however, was drawn to the person sitting on the small, elegant couch.

It was a young man, sickly pale, as though he hadn't seen the sun in decades, and was sitting cross-legged, facing us, and smoking a purple and blue hookah, casually. He had dark green hair, pulled back in a long braid that hung down over his shoulder, and narrowed purple eyes. He wore a very long, pale blue robe with flowing sleeves like those of the Japanese kimonos that a girl in my class once brought for show and tell. The skin of his chest and arms was covered in white bandages and his loose-fitting tan pants reached only a bit past his knees. His feet were bare and spiraling silvery scars stretched over his legs like smoke. His blazing amethyst eyes bore into mine like he could see right into my mind and dig through my thoughts.

After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, he finally moved. He parted his lips and blew a smoke ring in my direction while saying in that same whip-like voice,

"You have brought her here, Rabbit. Why?" With the last syllable, a smokey letter 'Y' slipped past his lips. I coughed as the sickly smell of second-hand invaded my lungs.

Theodore frowned and waved the smoke away. "I brought her because we need her, Vincent. And you too." He growled.

The man called Vincent nonchalantly puffed another smoke ring. "I told you before, White, that is not my responsibility. I will not be assisting anyone in this. It isn't my place. Besides, what if she is unable?"

Theodore gritted his teeth. "You cannot simply sit by and watch Wonderland fall!"

He only blew several more rings and closed his eyes slowly. "I can, and I will. I only prophesize. I do not interfere."

"No but you _can_!"

"Yes." His eyes narrowed and grew dark. His emerald hair began to turn a fiery red color at the roots as his temper boiled. "**But. I. Will. Not.**" Each word was emphasized by a burst of smoke in my face.

I scowled, coughing and waving the cloud away. "Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on? Preferably _before_ I get lung cancer?" I put my hands on my hips, and took turns glaring at Theodore and Vincent. Charles set a trembling hand on my shoulder and I calmed down a bit.

Vincent stood up to his full height (which, honestly wasn't that daunting on it's own, he was only about four or five inches taller than me.) and stormed over to me, cloud of smoke following him like a shadow. From the look on his face, I thought he was going to yell at me or beat me to death with his hookah or something equally unpleasant.

However, he did nothing of the sort. He just looked me straight in the face and said with a deadpan tone, "Keep your temper."

He closed his eyes and breathed smoke right into my face before I could go into a rant about how that was the second time today that I had been given the same useless advice.

"However," I coughed and fell back a few feet. My eyes watered and I waved away the smoke.

"However," He continued, seemingly annoyed by my respiratory distress. "since, you asked so nicely, I will tell you what you must do. Come with me." He turned and began walking up one of the small spiral staircases. Charles sent me a worried glance and I patted his shoulder gently.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. You'll give yourself a headache." I gave one glance back at Theodore and Quinn before following behind Vincent.

He led me down a long, narrow hallway lined with colorful tapestries depicting different scenes, none of which I had much time to analyze. I came to a halt in front of one in particular. The background color was a dull, stony gray but the edges were brilliantly blood-red. In the center, there was a faceless image of a black-haired woman sitting on a throne made of sharpened swords and bones on a pedestal of skulls. She wore a golden grown and held a menacing axe in her right hand.

"Hurry up, will you? I don't have all night." Vincent snapped from down the hall. I jumped and ran after him and into a small hexagonal room with mirror walls creating infinite mirror images all around us. He sat down in the center and I, in front of him. He cleared his throat and looked me in the eye, an unnerving Vincent-ism that it didn't take long for me to notice. He stared directly into the eyes of whoever he was interacting with. He took a slow, steady breath and began to speak.

"You must dethrone the Queen of Hearts. That woman who has taken a strangle hold upon Wonderland by no honorable means."  
"She came here from the upper-side, as violent, ruthless, pitiless and unstoppable as a force of nature. On her own, she was a devastating weapon of mass destruction. She fought her bloody way to what once was the Castle of Spades and slaughtered every member of the Spade family, except one, a tiny baby, without even a name. Her rule was sudden and viscous, like the bite of a viper. She took control of the vast army and purged the kingdom of any who opposed her, beheading each and every one. Wonderland is falling to ruin but now, now that Theodore brought you here, Alice, you can save this world." He tapped lightly on the ground and pulled a piece of the flooring up to reveal a hollow space which contained a tiny box that could easily fit in the palm of my hand. He opened the lid and out of the container, pulled a large, dusty tome that couldn't possibly have fit if this place followed any sort of logic. Or physics. He set the book in front of me and it immediately opened and flipped to a random page. I frowned in confusion.

The page was blank.

Vincent rolled his eyes, took my hand and placed it on the page. The minute my skin touched the paper, words began scrawling themselves across the frayed pages in dark red ink.

_'Ten years past the arrival of the Queen a young girl of the upper-side, enticed by her curiosity, will step through a mirror and fall to this world. The girl will be called Alice and her purpose is to save Wonderland, where as Wonderland's purpose is to save her. She will deliver Wonderland's people from this incredible horror, or she will die trying. For Alice and the Queen cannot coexist. They are opposites, yet they are mirrors of each other. This girl shall rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the bloody queen. She is destined to wear the same crown and rule the same kingdom and deliver Wonderland from the brink of destruction. It is her right. It is her destiny...'_

"For Alice is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts." Vincent finished in his stern, cold voice.

My heart nearly stopped as my thoughts raced around in all possible directions.

_'My mother...Is here...? She's been here the whole time? That's impossible...but...'_

"When I was little...My mother would tell me stories...about smoking caterpillars and...talking card soldiers and a world underneath ours..." I whispered. "They weren't stories...they were all true...My mother is from _here_!"

"How clever."

Vincent and I both turned towards the door quickly.

The speaker was a tall, blond man with blue-gray eyes and stubble on his chin. He wore an odd looking uniform, the front of which looked like the face of a card. The Ace of Hearts to be exact. That face. I knew that face immediately and all words but one caught in my throat.

"...D-dad...?"

"You were never supposed to come here, Alice. You weren't supposed to ever know. I went through so many measures to ensure you never found out. I packed all the things that may remind you of the stories, I told you that your mother had left me, I even got your grandfather to take down all the mirrors, but apparently he missed one. He always did have a soft spot for you."

I stared at the man that I had always looked up to. The man who had been my childhood superhero. I bit my lip. I had never heard that tone in his voice before. It was mocking and twisted and cruel. It was nothing like my father's. But there was no mistaking him. My heart sent a spike of painful sorrow through my body as he rose a glinting pointed spear to aim directly at my throat. The thin smile that stretched across his face was nearly undefinable. It was nothing but dark, gut-wrenching evil.

"No matter," He continued. "You always were quite the insufferable little pest. I'm glad to be rid of you. And I'm sure Loregin will just _love_ it if I kill you for her."

* * *

**AN: **

**ANOTHER DONE! I hope you like it and don't forget to review!  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	6. Matters of the Heart

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

My entire body was shaking and tense like a drawn bowstring. I stared, wide-eyed into my father's pitiless gaze, waiting for my death.

But it never did.

There was a loud shout from the doorway behind him and a lamp was smashed over his head. I looked up and met Charles' large blue eyes, filled with worry and fear.

I didn't have the time to thank him as my father rose to his feet and stabbed at Charles. Before he could land a blow, however, Quinn appeared from thin air and jumped onto my father's back. The two began thrashing about wildly on the ground, fighting for control of the spear.

Vincent grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the room roughly. "Don't just stand there, stupid girl! You need to actually stay alive!" He pulled me down the hall we had just walked down. A few of the tapestries were torn off the walls and strewn about. I could hardly focus on anything. I was dizzy and my vision blurred in and out at strange intervals. My mind was racing a mile a minute and I could feel my legs strain painfully to keep up with the speed at which Vincent was running. The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears.

'_What about Charles_?' I thought, glancing back at the door that we were quickly leaving behind. '_Quinn's there with him, but if Charles got hurt, I'd never forgive myself!_'

Vincent tugged me along, urging me to move faster as we turned down another narrow hall, which looked thoroughly unfamiliar. This was not the hall we had used to get here. Vincent cursed under his breath and we doubled back, taking another hall which we hoped was the right one.

It wasn't. We turned and Vincent cursed more things with more complicated words. We tried another hall and it led only to a door at the end. Vincent threw it open only to reveal a smaller door. Then an even smaller one behind that. We continued trying the doors until the door was the height of my knees.

Vincent growled. "And damn this advanced architecture!" He tugged open the door and shoved me towards it.

I scowled at him. "what are you doing? We won't fit through that!"

He sent me an icy glare. "would you just hush and trust someone for once?" he shoved me again and I stumbled. I fell down and, somehow, crawled through the tiny door.

On the other side was the second floor landing of the grand staircase. Vincent followed behind me and slammed the now normal-sized door angrily.

He opened his mouth to, no doubt, curse some more but was interrupted by a loud roar of triumph. Another man dressed like a card came charging at me from around the corner. His clothes were patterned with black clubs and the number eight. He held a small silvery dagger aloft and swung down at me. I dodged to the side. He narrowly missed and I heard Vincent swear loudly once again. I watched as he flicked his wrists and the bandages all over his body unraveled, revealing the same spiraling scars that he had on his legs. The swirling smokey scars peeled off, forming real smoke billowing around him in the air. It shot towards the card-man suddenly and jammed itself down his throat, clogging the airway. The card coughed and hacked violently until no air could reach his lungs and he just clawed at his throat. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell lifeless to the floor.

Everything went silent. Terrifyingly so. Then, the sound of heavy boots clanking on the hard floor echoed down the hallway. I looked over and saw a tall man with long black hair tied up on his head in a bun. He wore a light raiment of shiny silver armor, patterned with spades. Silver armored boots rose up to his knees and silver shoulder plates sat in their place. Four pale scars decorated his face, two through his left eye, one across his cheekbone and one splitting his lip.

Vincent froze and fixed his gaze on the man. His hair suddenly blazed bright red and his hands clenched into fists. "You."

The man waved a gloved hand dismissively. "I'm only here to give a little greeting to the princess." he retrieved a long, thin throwing knife from his sleeve and threw it skillfully. It whirled through the air, too fast to avoid, slicing open my shoulder and spilling bright crimson blood across the mirror floor.

My eyes widened as a massive surge of agony shot through my system. I wobbled unsteadily on my feet, trying my best to stay standing against the waves of pain. He hadn't hit anything vital, yet it hurt worse than anything I had ever felt. I had been cut, tossed around and beat up but this…this **burned**! Like acid was racing it's way through my veins. My vision blurred drastically and became clear once more.

The man turned away from us and sank down through the mirror-floor with a haunting laugh and a taunting call of, "Welcome to Wonderland, Princess!"

My vision blurred once again and faded. The last thing I saw was the ground rushing up to meet me as I fell.

I felt someone's arms catch me and lift me up into the air. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright." It was Theodore's voice. I wanted to struggle and snap that I wasn't worrying but I found that I couldn't move. There was a crash from down the hall and Quinn joined the party as well as someone panting breathlessly who was obviously Charles. Quinn was laughing wildly and I heard someone sigh in annoyance.

"Are there any more, Theodore?" Quinn rhymed excitedly.

"No." Theodore growled. "They're dead. All of them. Too bad. Now, we have to leave, you twisted little killing machine."

I heard Quinn give an unhappy mew and then I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Drink."

My eyes opened to Vincent kneeling in front of me, holding a small crystal bottle to my lips. A purplish liquid swirled within it's confines.

"Drink." He ordered again. "It's an antidote."

"Antidote...?" he asked groggily.

He sighed and frowned at me. "are you truly so dense that you can't tell when you've been poisoned, you great useless thing? Now, drink it."

I did as I was told, taking a swig from the bottle. I coughed and spluttered after I tasted the bitter concoction that was running down my throat. The texture was slimy, a bit like the sort of instant spinach that my father used to make for a last minute dinner.

"Wh-what the hell _is_ that?" I asked frantically.

"You don't need to know." His lips twitched into a smirk and he put the bottle away into one of his pockets.

I glanced around curiously, trying to get an idea of my location. We seemed to be back in the forest where Vincent's home was located, however, things seemed oddly different. The trees around us were wilting, crimson leaves darkening and falling to the ground and pale, white bark now as gray as smoke. The grass around us came in uneven patches of snowy white instead of the thick blue coat that had curled around my toes. In the distance, I saw black smoke rising into the sky and the sorrowful sound of birds calling to one another permeated my ears.

Everything seemed so dead.

I looked to Vincent questioningly and he gave me a pained look of what might have been guilt. "My home...the tree it was based in...It was the very heart of the Tulgey Wood. I lived there to protect it, for if anything were to happen to that tree, death would spread through the very veins of the forest." He looked away. "Those cards burned it down...Everything is dying...and I couldn't stop it."

I bit my lower lip and looked down at my feet. '_if it weren't for me, then we would never have gone to see Vincent...I could have prevented this..._' I shook my head sadly. '_but there's no going back now..._'

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up. Charles was standing beside me, giving me a worried look. "A-Alice? Do you feel alright?"

I smiled sadly and nodded. "What about you? You aren't hurt, are you?"

He shook his head. "I-I'm r-r-right as r-rain, I promise." He seemed to hesitate a bit before wrapping me in a warm embrace.

I smiled softly and hugged him back. There was something about hugging Charles that was absolutely wonderful. It was warm and sweet and just so...Charles!

We parted after a few moments and I glanced to the side where I saw Theodore and Quinn sitting beside a fire. The blaze burned eerily black and sparks of cobalt blue occasionally shot up from it.

Quinn's face and skin was splattered with dark red blood. A bit of his own blood trickled from his mouth from a split lip and he was cut and scraped in a few places but there was nothing that seemed too serious. Theodore seemed completely untouched other than a couple burns on his sleeves and some ash on his face. He seemed rather upset by this, however, and demanded that the go to his home to retrieve a new shirt and gloves. Vincent raised an eyebrow and promptly denied him.

My eyes focused again on Quinn, who seemed to be the worst off of our little group. I wanted to ask if he was alright but there was only one thing on my mind just then.

"Quinn...did you kill him? The Ace of Hearts…?"

Quinn looked up. "I didn't." He pouted like a child denied ice cream. "I got a good few of the other cards but he gave me the slip as quick as he could. Slimy bastard."

I frowned slightly. "Do you know who he is?"

He shook his head, sending his black locks into disarray. "Some card? What are you getting at, Dollface?"

I tried to glare but I couldn't seem to find the rage within myself. "He's...He's my father."

Quinn stared at me, eyes full of a curiosity that I was personally familiar with. "Was he...? That means Queenie had a little affair, hm? Well that's just delicious!"

"Are you really thinking about gossip right now, Cat?" Theodore frowned at him.

Quinn laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Bunny. Imagine, me, gossiping! Incorrigible!"

"The princess lost her father, more or less! Now is not the time for jokes."

I let out a sigh and shook my head sadly. "It doesn't matter...I could probably go for a joke or two right now. He was trying to kill me after all… so I guess he just doesn't love me like I thought he used to…"

"He was a fool not to love you, Princess." Theodore's voice was barely above a whisper but I caught it. He was always so intent on protecting me...I was never one to trust easily, but...Theodore was slowly becoming the brother I never had. It was nice...to still have people who cared.

I walked over to Theodore and hugged him quickly before pulling away. "Thank you...for what you said."

I went to Quinn and did the same, not even caring about the blood that now stained my nice yellow sundress. "And you too. For trying to make me feel better." A small smile quirked its way onto my face.

"Vincent...Come here." I held out my arms.

"Not on your life." He snapped.

"Vincent. Get your ass over here." I repeated.

He sighed and walked over, a look of pure hatred on his face. He hugged me for a split second then moved to the other side of the fire. "Now go to bed. We need to make an early start in the morning."

He leaned against a tree and un-braided his hair. I noticed that it was incredibly long for a boy's hair. Well, it would be if this were the normal world. It fell a bit passed his hips. I had always wanted hair like that, but mine was always kept short. My school didn't allow hair to fall past the shoulders and any hair that did was to be tied up. It was a safety hazard or something. People could pull it in fights or it could get caught on something.

Charles came over and took my hand. We sat down together, leaning back against another tree. He shut his eyes and feel asleep almost immediately. I yawned and rested my head on his shoulder. It was surprisingly comfortable despite him being so skinny and boney. Quinn lay down, head on my lap, and fell asleep instantly. I giggled quietly and played with his ears. Theodore smiled. "Consider yourself honored, Princess. In all these years, I have never seen Quinn do something like that. He must have taken a liking to you."

I smiled over at him. He was leaning up against the tree beside me. He had taken his glasses off and the dark fire gave his red eyes an odd effect. "Princess-"

"Please, Theodore, call me Alice. I'm not your ruler."

"Then...Alice...?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" I tilted my head to the side. I wondered what had made him so nervous.

"Do you…hate me…? For bringing you here? I ruined your life by revealing all of these secrets…"

I blinked. His ears were drooping and his eyes were soft and sad. I wanted to tell him it was okay. That I forgave him. But what I said was, "I wouldn't want my life ruined any other way."

"Good night...Theo." I said with a smile.

He tensed up at the nickname and stared at me in confusion.

"It's a nickname. It seems so official, calling you 'Theodore' all the time."

Theo laughed slightly and shook his head, pouring water on the fire to put it out. "Good night… Princess."

* * *

(Charles)

My eyes opened slowly, showing the world around me. I nearly forgot where I was until I looked down to my left and saw a familiar head of black hair resting on my shoulder.

She looked so peaceful now. Nothing like the hurricane of a woman she was when she was awake. I had never met anyone like her in that tiny little town where I had lived all my life. She was intense and strong and confrontational. It made my head spin and for once, I didn't mean that in a bad way.

I smiled to myself. She was incredible...

I reached into my pocket and retrieved my notebook and pen. I did my best not to jostle her too much. I didn't want to wake her in the dead of night. Luckily for me, the two of Wonderland's moons lit the area quite well. I didn't have much to write just then, anyway. Just an idea. Something that had just struck me.

'_**Alice's Adventures in**** Wonderland**_'

I heard a soft rustling noise from my left. Quinn, the cat-man who I had watched kill about 6 people, sat up and gave me a sleep-clouded, blurry-eyed glare.

"That scratching noise you're making. Stop it." His voice was raspy from sleep and came out with a thick accent that I hadn't noticed before. I figured he must have been hiding it. It sounded almost Irish but with a bit of a twist.

'_Scratching noise? Oh, he must mean my writing..._' I closed my notebook, stowing the pen in the spiral binding. "Sorry about that! I won't do it again."

"Good." That frightening grin made it's way to his face. "Now, what did you write, hmmm?"

I panicked. "N-Nothing! J-just a title!"

"A title?" He looked at me curiously. "For a book? Let me see!" without waiting for permission, he snatched the notebook and flipped through a few pages until he found it. He laughed.

"_Oh_, I _see_!" He smirked, snapping the book closed and handing it back. "You, kid, are absolutely _besotted_."

"I-I-I-I am not!" I couldn't control my stutter any longer as my face heated up with embarrassment.

"Uh-huh, you just keep telling yourself that." he smirked and lay back down. "Only, you know that I'm right."

As he returned to sleep and I closed my eyes to do the same, I felt absolutely terrible. Not only was I being teased like I used to be back in my world, the worst part was that he was right.

'_Besotted_.'

* * *

**AN:**

**It got pretty goddamn sappy there, but don't worry, gore lovers, there will be blood.  
**

**I was listening to 'As Long As You're Mine' from Wicked while I was writing this.  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan**


	7. Don't Step On the Mome Raths

**I do not own Alice in Wonderland**

* * *

(Alice)

I awoke up the next morning to find Quinn shaking me into consciousness. "Wakey, Wakey, doll. Vincent says we gotta get a move on."

I sent him a glare that I hoped could convey all the utter burning hatred I felt for being called 'doll'.

All I got was a giant 'I-don't-care-because-I'm-

Quinn-mother-fucking-DeMuse' grin right in my face.

So much for a good morning.

On second thought, how good could a morning in this situation be? I had hardly gotten any time to think over the events of the previous night. I knew I couldn't refuse. It was my responsibility. I had single-handedly caused the destruction of the Tulgey Wood with just my presence.

I had to do something. I had to fix things.

I looked around, rubbing the sleep from my bleary eyes. Charles sat under one of the shriveled, dead trees, writing away in his notebook as always. He looked up, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose, and gave me a polite wave. "good morning!" he called.

Quinn's grin twitched a bit more upwards at the left corner, making it more of a smirk. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. Vincent and Theodore came into view then, talking animatedly a ways away.

Theodore seemed to be angrily arguing and imploring with Vincent. Why, I couldn't tell, but Vincent's eyebrow was twitching and his hair was tinting red again. Needless to say, neither of them were happy with the other but they seemed to come to an agreement. Vincent came storming back to us, Theodore in tow.

"Come along." Theodore called to us calmly.

Vincent, on the other hand, sounded absolutely mad with barely suppressed anger. In fact his voice came out more as a growl than anything else. "We're going to see Sven." He told Quinn, who made a face of distaste.

I looked between them confusedly. "Who?"

Vincent rolled his eyes, seeming annoyed that he had to explain something to me yet again. "Sven Hatter. He has a history of being..."

He glanced at Quinn and Theo. "An asshole. But we need his help if we're going to get into the castle. He knows all there is to know about secret passages and hidden secrets. Considering many of the most important and complex buildings in Wonderland were built by Hatter."

"And now, if we're done here, let's move. We're wasting time that we don't have." Vincent finished coldly, turning on his heel, and walking away. Theodore followed him, looking oddly panicked at the mention of lost time.

Quinn stuck around for a moment or two with Charles and me. He made an almost gentlemanly gesture for Charles to go ahead of us. "I'd like to talk to the little lady for a bit if you don't mind, Charlie."

I could tell Charles didn't like being called that from the way his shoulders tensed and he stalked away without another word.

I was about to follow after him when Quinn grabbed my arm forcefully and yanked me back. "don't step on the mome raths."

Charles looked back in interest, whipping out his notebook. "mome raths?"

Quinn gestured to the ground in front of me where thousands of tiny white things that looked like fuzzy mushrooms. He looked down at the white 'mushrooms' and started scribbling furiously in his notebook. I stared at them intently and realized suddenly that they weren't mushrooms at all.

They were tiny little creatures running in circles and making a soft grinding noise like some gruesome machine. I could make out many rows of razor sharp teeth on all of them. They were swarming like sharks in a feeding frenzy, but Quinn led me through them carefully with the kind of catlike grace that I'd expect from him. Charles followed suit, still scribbling feverishly.

I looked down at the mome raths and they just looked back up at me hungrily with black beady little eyes.

I shuddered as a cold chill ran down my spine.

-.-.-.-

We had been walking for about half an hour when we reached a table in the middle a vast flower garden. It was a lovely sight if not a bit macabre. Every petal of every flower was pitch black and the leaves were a dead, ashen gray.

There were two young children sitting back to back on the table, both so still that they looked like statues. They were twins, both male and around 10 years old. Their hair was black and a dark contrast to their skin which was almost sickly pale. Each had a stitched scar on their cheek, one had it on his left cheek and the other his right. They wore the same clothes exactly, right down to the missing button on their shirt collars. Their clothes consisted of black, ragged, pinstripe suits with sleeves that were a bit too long for their arms. They wore black, scoffed up combat boots that reminded me of the pair I had back at my grandfather's house, and matching black fedoras. The only difference between the two boys was how they wore their hair. The one on the left wore his long hair in a ponytail, tied with a blue ribbon and the one on the right had his hair messy and free, letting it fall to the small of his back with a red ribbon woven into a tiny braid that hung near his face.

I stared at them interestedly, figuring they were made of wax. "Who are they...?"

"They're the Tweedles. Dee and Dum."

I jumped and looked over at the head of the table. There sat a man who definitely hadn't been there before. He had golden blond hair that curled at the nape of his neck where it ended. He wore an eye patch over his left eye and the other was sharp, cold and bright green. He was smirking at me devilishly like he was analyzing me or something equally as creepy. He dressed very sophisticated in a white suit, black tie, and a large black top hat with a card stuck in the brim, reading '10/6'. A small teapot was balanced on the top of his hat.

"I am Sven. Sven Hatter. Welcome to my tea party, Alice."

"Um...thanks...?" I frowned cautiously.

Sven stood up and took long theatrical strides over to me, grabbing me by the chin and looking over my face. "Ah yes, you certainly do look like her...The hair, your eyes...even this funny little sprinkle of freckles over your nose."

"Ooooooh~!" A childish voice echoed from one of the twins. The one in red.

"Looks like Hattie found himself a little crush, hm?" The blue one said right after.

'_Funny..._' I thought. '_I didn't see either of them move..._'

Sven's eyebrow twitched a little in anger. "I am merely observing." His hand went to his side where there was a long fancy sabre of a sword at his hip.

"Oi!" An angry shout chorused from the other end of the table. I looked over and was once again surprised to find someone sitting at the table who had not been there before.

The speaker, a woman of maybe 18, was one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen. Her hair was long, curly, and a dark chestnut brown. Her eyes, clear and blue, were currently half lidded making her look rather unimpressed with everything. There were two, long, black rabbit ears poking out of her head. She wore a pretty black and purple dress that came to her knees and ended in shredded ruffles. A collection of bright purple flowers bloomed on her shoulders and their vines wrapped their way around her arms. Her skin was tan and a little mole sat under her right eye. Her voice was strong and clear with a hint of what sounded almost like a French accent, yet there was something...off about it. Like it was mixed in with something else that was entirely untraceable.

"You two." She said to the twins, surprisingly calm after her previous outburst. "Off my table."

They exchanged glances with one another and slid off the table, saluting her with the utmost respect.

"Hatter. Don't threaten children." She frowned at Sven who was still looming over me. He backed off and removed his hand from the swords hilt.

He turned a sly smile at the woman. "Etta. How good of you to join us."

I glanced at my companions curiously.

Quinn chuckled and strutted over to stand behind the woman. "Alice, may I introduce Miss Henrietta March. The most simply devastatingly beautiful creature in all of Wonderland." He trailed a finger lightly down the side of her face and she smacked him away.

"Hands off, Cat." Her eyes hardened into an icy glare that could most likely have set a lesser man on fire. "Or I'll castrate you in your sleep. Got it?"

"Dually noted." Quinn pulled back as if she had turned into a venomous snake.

The twins giggled loudly, thoroughly enjoying Henrietta's violent nature.

"Well. Now that we've all gotten acquainted shall we move this little meet and greet inside?" Sven asked Vincent with a cold smirk of disdain.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Hatter? Another chance to show off."

"Oh, you're accusations are brutal, Oracle, just as always."

Vincent muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "feed you to mome raths" and we all headed inside. Vincent was as quiet as the grave I'm sure he'd like to send Sven to and yet, said Hatter chattered on as if nothing had happened. I sighed, feeling that this would somehow end in an attempted murder.

* * *

**AN:**

**CHAPTER 7 AFTER MUCH ADO ABOUT NOT A LOT!  
**

**Chances are, were I faced with Sven, I would feed him to mome raths.  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	8. Down To Business

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland.**

The moment I entered the huge, decaying mansion, I was completely overwhelmed by the smell of tea, mercury and incense. I coughed, disgusted by the potent combination. At the very least, it wasn't as bad as Vincent's hookah smoke. I opened my watery eyes to gaze around at my surroundings.

The floral wallpaper was grayed and peeling beyond repair and the wooden floors were creaky and covered in dust and rugs that were also gray. In fact, the only color in the entire area I could see were dozens of bouquets of blue and white roses held by cracked jade teapots in place of vases. These sat atop cracked tables that looked like chess boards with monstrous clawed feet.

"Hurry up, girl!" came a very Vincent-like shout. I looked up from the table's feet. The group had turned down a narrow hall with only one door at the end. Charles trailed at the end of the group, scribbling away in his notebook. I walked over to stand beside him. Sven, standing at the head of the group, smirked at me and led us down the hall.

He stopped at the only door and knocked on it once sharply then whispered a phrase in a language I didn't recognize. The wall to the left of the door swung open like a door. Beyond it was a long stone tunnel with uneven rocky stairs leading downwards.

Naturally, my first instinct was to question the living hell out of the Hatter. However, Charles did that for me.

"Erm...so what's behind the other door...?"

"A brick wall." Tweedle Dum replied cheerily. Charles, still thoroughly confused, looked at the child as though he were out of his mind. Which he likely was. Tweedle Dee elaborated in a similar happy, childish voice, "This place is built like a labyrinth. If you had opened that door, you wouldn't be going much of anywhere, would you?" They broke into laughter as though they had just told some hilarious joke.

"Your lucky, Young sir, to have Hatter himself as a guide. If not, you'd run a great chance of being eaten by several things that have made their homes in these corridors." Etta said to Charles, teasingly. Unfortunately, Charles having the weak constitution that he did, the joke was not taken lightly. All the color drained from his face and he began to look woozy, as though he were about to faint. I stepped closer to him and took his hand in mine.

"It'll be alright, nothings going to eat you."

Etta lit a lantern that hung from one of the mossy stone walls that lined the narrow, dark passage.

As we began our decent into pitch darkness, the safe light of the lantern faded fast. Soon, I could no longer see where I was stepping. Theodore grabbed my hand and pulled me off of a step as soon as it crumbled. "Watch your step, Milady."

"Hmm...Yes, can't have you breaking your neck before your coronation." Sven called back in a supercilious tone.

Vincent growled in response. "Is there a point to this goddamn tunnel, Hatter?"

Sven spoke with a condescending dismissal. "Oh please, like the tree you live in is any less confusing. Or should I say _lived_? The cards have burned it to the ground by now, haven't they?"

"Oh, could you tell that just by the state of the Tulgey Wood? Your powers of perception are better than I thought."

"Well, perhaps, you shouldn't have been trusted with the heart in the first place." I could practically hear the smirk in Sven's voice.

I could feel Vincent clench his fists beside me. It seemed to take every bit of his will power not to grab Sven by the hair and smash his face into the stone. As we walked, things began to glow on the walls. They seemed to be mushrooms. Millions of glowing mushrooms.

Charles looked at them in awe. He whipped out his notebook, trying his best to write in the horribly dim lighting.

Quinn glanced over, grinning. "What? They're just mushrooms. It means we're getting close to the exit."

Sven raised an eyebrow. "And just how do you know that, Cat?"

Quinn laughed and held up one finger. "One. Common sense. You wouldn't want stairs leading up that no one could see. Two." He held up another finger. "You honestly think I haven't been down here my share of times? I'm everywhere and nowhere, Hattie."

We soon came to a set of stairs and the conversation ceased. Strangely, the assent didn't match the decline so, I figured we were on a lower floor. When the door at the top opened, my eyes were flooded by sunlight, a horrible contrast to the dark we had all just experienced. I winced and shielded my unadjusted eyes.

"Why did we have to go under the house for this?" Theodore snapped, covering his eyes as well.

"Because." said a quiet and rather timid voice from the corner. "There is only one way in. But multiple ways out."

"Ah, I thought you'd be here, Amory." Sven grinned. I glanced at the corner from where the voice had floated. The speaker was a small boy who looked around the same age as me. His hair was a soft sandy color, slightly curly and barely sweeping his shoulders. His bangs were so long that they completely covered his eyes. He wore many shades of turquoise and small brown shoes that looked like the flats I'd seen girls wear at my school.

Etta rolled her eyes and brushed the hair away from his face. "Wake up. Your future queen is here."

The boy seemed to nearly jump out of his skin. His eyes opened wide. They were large and emerald green. He looked at me frantically and his head twitched to the side in a neurotic mixture of concern and confusion. That's when I noticed he had two, light brown, mouse-like ears poking out of his head and a long fluffy tail swishing behind him. The twins got behind him and pushed him towards me. He gasped and stumbled a little. He bowed his head a little. "I-I'm Amory Vance, M-my lady..."

I frowned, completely sick to death of all the bowing and 'milady's. I held out my hand. "I'm Alice Laurel...please don't bow."

He seemed to be having an minor heart attack as he shook my hand almost so hard, I thought my arm would be yanked off. "P-pleased to meet you..." He looked away and caught sight of Quinn to my right. Not much could have prepared me for what happened.

Amory's green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "GAAAAAH! CAAAAAT!" He wailed as he leaped back in horror and alarm. In the process of this he knocked a lamp to the floor with a crash. Every one's eyes widened simultaneously except Quinn's.

He simply laughed a little at the chaos he had caused without even trying, obviously pleased with himself. Dee and Dum grabbed Amory by the wrists, struggling to keep him down. They seemed exceedingly strong for children but the little mouse-boy thrashed with all his might. When he ended up kicking Dum in the jaw, all while screaming "CAT! CAT! IT'S A CAT!", Etta saw it time to step in. She pinned the frantic boy to the ground and uncorked a bottle, pouring the contents down his throat. Almost immediately a peaceful expression crossed his face. His eyes drooped and he was quickly asleep. Etta smiled triumphantly and put the bottle away.

"What was that you gave him?" I asked her.

She grinned at me and replied, "Tea."

I raised an eyebrow. "So...mice really like tea?"

Etta rolled her eyes. "Of course not. He's a dormouse."

I scowled. "Oh, yes, because _that_ makes sense."

She frowned and gestured for me to sit down. I sighed and took a seat on the floor beside the sleeping dormouse. Charles sat on the other side of me, scribbling away once again into that notebook. That thing must be nearly filled by now, right?

Wrong. I doubted that he'd stop writing until every page was completely filled, front and back.

"Alright...So down to business, then?" Sven clapped his hands to get our attention. "Excellent..."

* * *

**AN:**

**SVEN IS AN ENORMOUS DOUCHEBAG.  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	9. Hope

**I do not own Alice in Wonderland**

* * *

After Sven's announcement a few things had to happen before we could proceed to business itself. Honestly, it was amazing how absolutely chaotic these people could be.

First, the passage we entered through had to be closed and locked, then Dee and Dum had to sweep away the broken glass from the shattered lamp. Next, Amory was lifted by the super-humanly strong twins and moved to a small couch in the corner of the room. Finally, the rest of the company took seats in a circle on the floor. I was going to question the lack of chairs but was certain that I'd get some half-assed answer from Sven on how he had made a decision on a whim that chairs were so last year.

I really didn't know what to think of Sven. Or really anyone here for that matter. I was still hoping somewhere deep down that this was all an elaborate hoax. It was all just too...impossible. Charles was obviously as amazed with his surroundings as I was. I wondered absently if the poor thing would ever lose the awe he had for this place. If he stayed as excited as he was now, there was a chance he would give himself a heart attack.

He turned to me, a wide grin on his face. "Are you sure I'm not dreaming? I mean this is all too amazing! Is any of this real? Are you real?"

I let out a laugh and nodded. "I'm real, trust me. So, then this place is too."

Sven raised a light eyebrow and his lips quirked into a crooked smile. "Quite." He glanced around as the noise level began to climb steadily. I became clear to me that this was quite a volatile combination of people.

Vincent was still dead set in glaring at Sven for the rest of the day, possibly his natural life, and Sven took absolutely no notice except for when he shot Vincent a cruel smirk now and then. Theodore was complaining that I shouldn't have to sit on the floor despite my protests that I was perfectly comfortable, Etta was telling him not to baby me, That I was a queen, not a china doll and it was all rather awkward. The twins were arguing about which one of them was Dum and which one was Dee. I think they knew, they just wanted to be part of the commotion. The only one conscious that wasn't causing a fuss somehow was Quinn. This was quite a surprise, knowing Quinn. He was actually focusing his large blue eyes on my face, unblinkingly. Being stared at always made me nervous.

"Erm…Quinn…?"

He tilted his head slowly, still not blinking. "Yeah, _Princess_?"

My face flushed with anger and embarrassment. "Why are you staring at me, you creepy animal?"

He grinned big, seeing the jest behind my insult. "Oh I'm just waiting for everyone to shut up and get to business. I stare at pretty things to pass the time, you see!"

I blinked in shock and looked around blushing even more furiously than before, praying that someone would speak up. Vincent glanced over and took the hint. "Silence! Business, remember?"

Everyone fell silent and looked at Vincent expectantly. "Alright." He flicked his wrist sharply and light gray smoke seeped from his pale skin. It converged over the floor like a sheet. As it settled, it formed a complex design in the form of a blueprint. "This is a copy of the layout of the castle of hearts. It has every entrance. Every exit. Every door way in the entire place."

Sven scowled. "How on earth do you have this, Worm? There's no way a shut in like you could have taken this."

Vincent glared sharply. "It's nothing that you need to know, you mercury maddened son of a-"

Sven raised his hands in exasperated defense. "fine, fine! Forget I asked!"

"As I was saying! We're going to use this to plan out our entrance, emergency escapes and paths to the throne room. Those routes need to be as safe as possible. We are not going to risk getting Alice killed unless we all want to be beheaded for treason and condemn all of Wonderland to live a life in fear under her rule! Is that clear? Does anyone think that would be a good idea? No? Okay, then."

I grimaced at the thought of being beheaded and watched as Charles' hands flew to his neck. Vincent frowned and continued. "I say that we should split into two groups. One to concentrate on fending off cards and the other to get Alice to the crown at any cost. Once that group enters the throne room, everyone but Alice must remain at the door. Alice must face the Queen of Hearts alone."

Theodore scowled. "What do you mean? Why does she have to face that monster alone?"

Vincent looked away. "That is the way it must be...That is how it is written. We could enter from the back which may give us the advantage. Then we could split up from there and as Alice's group moves along the other group can clear…obstacles."

I inspected the map curiously, trying my best to be involved. I noticed a small square marked rose passage out in the garden. It had a line connecting it to a room just beside the library. This room was unmarked. "Hey…This kinda reminds me of the tunnel we had to go through to get here."  
"Why shouldn't it?" Amory's voice spoke up sleepily from the couch. "After all, Hatter designed both the castle and this mansion."

My eyes widened. "Really? That's amazing! It's a good thing Sven's around then."

Vincent grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like. _'So I can push him into the river, maybe.'_

Sven, as I thought, simply ignored Vincent with a smirk and an arrogant wave of his hand. "Indeed. It's quite useful to have one like me around. But really, my designs aren't as incredible as people give them credit for."

"Nonsense." Etta patted his shoulder affectionately. "Your being modest."

He smiled at her happily. "Thank you, Etta, but this isn't just about my architecture."

Etta raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Your right. I second Vincent's plan."

I struggled not to laugh out loud when I saw Sven's face fall drastically into pure devastation. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle. "but-!" he started.

Etta shot him a look. "What? Do you have a better plan?"

Sven's face reddened and he shook his head very slightly. Etta laughed a little and Vincent gave a satisfactory smirk. Even Amory giggled a little but stopped immediately when Sven glared daggers at him.

Sven looked away, shutting his eyes and letting out a sigh. "Well, changing the subject, what exactly happened in the Tulgey Wood?"

Vincent's smile vanished. "The cards attacked...Spade was with them."

Sven's eyes widened in shock. "_Spade_?! She already knows Alice is here, then. She's pulling out all the stops."

Vincent grimaced. "It would appear so. Before we do anything, we'll have to teach Alice to fight. Willpower won't be enough against so great an enemy."

I looked around at the group we had formed. There was unmistakable doubt in most faces. I couldn't really blame them for not believing in me. But everywhere I looked, there was hope. A hope that against unfathomable odds, we would rise victorious.

I stood up and met the eyes of each of these strange, impossible people. My gaze finally fell on Charles. I was so glad that he had come along. That he was alright. He was my link to our world. The only proof I had that I was still sane. I smiled softly before I began to speak. I had never been one for speeches but something inside of me just had to be heard.

"I understand if you all doubt me. Under these circumstances, I would doubt me too. What am I? I'm just some girl from the upside. I've never fought any wars. I've never ruled any countries, and I've never saved anyone like this. I would doubt me if it weren't for one thing. You all have hope. Hope for a better tomorrow, hope for happiness and peace. Each one of you deserves that, and if I'm the only one who can provide it, I will, by any means, or I will fall. Failure is not an option. You will be free or I'll gladly meet my death. So you can doubt all you like, but keep your hope. Above all else, keep your hope." I looked down at my feet. "I'll fight for it. And for Wonderland, too."

* * *

**AN:**

**SOOOOOOO. I got no reviews on the last chapter and I really hope people still care about this. I'm not going to stop writing it so GET USED TO IT!  
**

**Please review  
**

**Much Love,  
**

**Evan  
**


	10. The Walrus and The Carpenter

**I don't own Alice in Wonderland**

"Shit!"

The curse tore from my throat, voice cracking sharply as my back made hard and jarring contact with the ground for only the thousandth time that day. Quinn stood above me, grinning and waving a wooden sword triumphantly. My own fake weapon had been knocked from my hands and was lying a ways away. His grin stretched a bit wider and he offered a clawed hand to help me up.

"Come on, iPrincess/i, I'm not even that good with a sword."

I glared, trying my best to seem threatening from my sprawled out position on the ground. "That's a dirty lie, cat, and we both know it."

"Care for another go?" he asked, aggravating grin never faltering. "I promise I'll go easy on you."

I growled and struggled to my feet on my own. "Don't you dare." I retrieved my wooden sword and pointed the tip at his chest like Sven had showed me. I jabbed at Quinn's ribs and he deflected the blow easily with a light chuckle. Anger surged through me at his mocking laughter. The annoying beast feinted to the right and thwacked my left side as quick as a viper while I was busy defending the right. I nearly lost my grip on my weapon as pain spiked from the hit.

iDamn it, that's going to bruise…/i I thought as my side throbbed unpleasantly. With a grimace, I managed to keep the oaken blade aloft, and, with a sudden surge of anger fueled strength, I struck out at his shoulder mercilessly and for the fist time that day, my little pretend weapon struck home. Quinn winced and stumbled back, dumbfounded. He had dropped his sword and it was then my turn to grin like the cat who ate the canary. He looked at me in surprise and he smiled slightly.

"Nice hit, Princess. I have been slain!" He fell back with a dramatic swooning motion. He collapsed in the grass beside the bag we had brought. He opened it and retrieved one of the lunches that Etta and Amory had given us. I sat next to him, feeling a good deal happier than I had previously. I pulled out a lunch as well and set to unwrapping it. Inside were foods I had never seen before. Strange, giant red fruits that faded to purple the closer you got to the bottom of it with gold leaves sticking out of the top. There was also what seemed to be some sort of fish with rainbow colored flesh. The most normal thing I could find in our little picnic basket was a fluffy loaf of bread. I glanced over at Quinn to see if there was a proper way to eat any of this. He just smirked at me and took a piece of the bread.

Suddenly, a small winged thing fluttered out of the basket and flitted around Quinn's head. He hissed and swatted at it. He picked up a small silver bread knife and swiped the thing out of the air. Then, without a second thought, he spread it over his piece of bread. I looked at him with a mixture of disgust and confusion and he simply smirked at me. "Butter-flies." He stated, as if that explained it all.

I rolled my eyes, slowly getting used to Quinn's special brand of bullshit. If I allowed myself to think of it as such, it was nearly endearing. Quinn wasn't so bad at all and he was definitely fun to be around and-

_**NO.**_

There was no way in hell I was going to get close to him. He may not be so bad, but…there was just something about him that I didn't trust, as much as I'd like to. I hoped that someday soon, I'd be able to trust him the way I wanted him to trust me.

Quinn's nose twitched and he sneezed as a leaf fell on his nose from the tree above us. A couple of giggles were heard from the tree and a soft 'shh'. Quinn and I looked up in a nearly synchronized motion. Above us, hidden among the branches, sat Dee, Dum, and a very distressed-looking Charles.

He began panicking almost instantly. "A-Alice! I-I was just-! Th-th-they m-made me come a-along a-a-and I just wanted t-to…!"

My look of shock shifted to a small smile. "No worries, really. You just scared me a little. Come on down, maybe one of you can teach me how to eat this stuff."

Dee giggled and jumped down from the tree, his twin following afterwards. Charles tumbled down after them gracelessly and landed on his back, hard. I bit my lip and offered him a helping hand. He took it with a grateful smile and I pulled him into a sitting position. He fixed his askew glasses and pulled out his notebook to see if it was okay. Satisfied that it was in no danger, he put it away and inspected the lunches that had been packed for us. There was food for at least ten people, I had no idea who they had expected would eat all that.

My questions were soon answered as Quinn reached in and pulled out a second rainbow-colored fish along with a box of long, tube-shaped, purple chip-like things. He offered one to me and I smiled nervously and shook my head.

"Oh, come on, Princess, it isn't gonna kill ya!" He leaned in and tapped the tube to my closed lips.

I frowned and swatted his hand away. "Alright, alright." I took it and took a small bite off the end. It was salty and sweet at the same time and almost had the consistency of a French fry, but not quite. There was certainly nothing like it where I was from, even though, in New York, you could find just about any kind of food.

I smiled at Quinn slightly. "That…That's really good. What is it?"

"They're called Flamingo Legs," He replied calmly. "But don't worry! They're actually made from a plant, I swear!" He added quickly when he saw my look of horror.

I calmed down considerably and picked up one of the strange red fruits. I had expected them to be squishy, like a tomato, but really it felt more like an apple. Dee and Dum watched me, waiting for me to take a bite, obviously anxious about my reaction. I raised an eyebrow. "Are these any good? " I asked them.

Dum smiled. "Bleeding Hearts. They're our favorite."

Dee nodded in agreement and took one out for him, handing it to his brother. "Go ahead, Miss. Just make sure to eat them quickly."

I looked at them nervously, gaze switching back and forth. "Erm…Okay." I held the fruit to my lips and sank my teeth into its shiny surface.

Once I did so, a sour taste filled my mouth. I didn't mind at all, sour is one of my favorite tastes. It faded slowly into a pleasantly sweet taste, like strawberries in sugar. I looked down and realized that as soon as my teeth had broken the surface, a smooth jelly-like substance had oozed out. The insides were liquid. I smiled. "This is great! I wish they had food like this…up there." I pointed up awkwardly.

Identical smiles spread over the faces of the young twins. "You like food then, Miss?" Dum asked curiously.

"Ever eaten an oyster?" asked Dee.

"We'll tell you a little story about them, if you like!" Dum added.

I saw Quinn roll his eyes. "Oh, god, here we go again."

"Eh-_hem_." Dum cleared his throat and stood up. He walked in front of us, as though he were about to perform onstage. Charles, who had previously been scribbling in his book about the food, looked up and poised his pencil, ready to take notes on the story, no doubt. "This is story is called…"

Pause for dramatic affect.

"The Walrus and the Carpenter!"

Dee stood up suddenly and pushed his brother aside, standing in his place. "_Or_! The Story of the Curious Oysters!"

Dum stood up from where he had fallen, dusting himself off, disgruntled.

"The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make  
The billows smooth and bright-  
And this was odd, because it was  
The middle of the night."

With this, he gestured upwards to the sun hanging in the pale lavender sky. Dee scowled and grabbed his brother's arm, pulling him aside.

"The moon was shining sulkily,  
Because he thought the sun  
Had got no business to be there  
After the day was done-  
"It's very rude of him," he said,  
"To come and spoil the fun!""

The reply was stated rudely, as if directed at Dum directly. Dee crossed his arms angrily and Dum stuck his tongue out at him.

Dum propped his hands on his hips. "Stop it, _I_ want to tell them the story!"

The other twin shook his head vigorously. "I don't think so! It's _my_ story to tell, dammit!"

Dum glared. "We heard it _together_! And I'm older by one whole minute! So _I_ get to tell it!"

"Fine then, you twat." Dee glared. "We'll both tell the story."

Quinn chuckled softly and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "That's the best compromise they've ever made."

They cleared their throats simultaneously and each pulled half of a box from their pockets. They fitted the silver halves together and set them on the ground. It opened and a miniature moon and sun floated out and took their places, suspended in the air above the little stage that was now assembling itself. It appeared to be a beach and on it, two odd little men were ambling along.

No, scratch that. One man and one walrus in a business suit.

The twins began speaking simultaneously, voices clear and ringing with an odd harmony.

"The sea was wet as wet could be,  
The sands were dry as dry.  
You could not see a cloud, because  
No cloud was in the sky:  
No birds were flying overhead-  
There were no birds to fly."

Blue, paper waves began to lap at the sandy shore of the stage. Crashing noises echoed from the miniature beach as the 'waves' hit the sand and rocks. The strange little figures halted and appeared to look around at the sand in despair.

"The Walrus and the Carpenter  
Were walking close at hand;  
They wept like anything to see  
Such quantities of sand:  
"If this were only cleared away,"  
They said, "it would be grand!""

Dum spoke on his own next, in a deep, grumbling voice. "If seven maids with seven mops swept it for half a year, do you suppose,"

Dee interrupted quickly, "The Walrus said."

Dum continued, speaking in time with the little paper Walrus' talking motions. "That they could get it clear?"

"I doubt it," Dee replied in a timid, lisping voice.

Dum picked up the rhythm of the poem flawlessly and finished the stanza with,

"Said the Carpenter, and shed a bitter tear."

On the tiny stage, the walrus and the carpenter ambled over to the shoreline. The Walrus descended into the water and the scene changed. A backdrop of underwater fell down over that of the beach. Little fish began swimming through the air in the background. An eerie blue light radiated from the stage, tinting everything around it the color of deep water.

The twins looked at each other and then at the stage. Dum opened his mouth and his Walrus voice called out.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"

"The Walrus did beseech." Dee interjected.

Dum gave him an irritated look and continued;

"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,  
Along the briny beach:  
We cannot do with more than four,  
To give a hand to each."

Twenty or so tiny shells sat on the ocean's floor and each one opened up slowly to reveal little oysters with large, innocent eyes and bows sitting atop their heads. The twins once again began talking in unison.

"The eldest Oyster looked at him,  
But never a word he said:  
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,  
And shook his heavy head-  
Meaning to say he did not choose  
To leave the oyster-bed."

Just as they said, the largest oyster shook his head, suspicious of the Walrus, and slammed the top of his shell down like a door.

"But four young Oysters hurried up,  
All eager for the treat:  
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,  
Their shoes were clean and neat-  
And this was odd, because, you know,  
They hadn't any feet."

Four little oysters ran up to the walrus, all smiling, happy and curious things. I felt myself smile slightly, chuckling at the last line of the stanza. I barely noticed the tears in the eldest oyster's eyes as he peeked out to watch the young ones leave.

"Four other Oysters followed them,  
And yet another four;  
And thick and fast they came at last,  
And more, and more, and more-  
All hopping through the frothy waves,  
And scrambling to the shore."

Identical grins spread across the twin's faces as all the little oysters followed the Walrus up to the shore. The scene changed back once again. The caravan came to and stopped at a rock.

"The Walrus and the Carpenter  
Walked on a mile or so,  
And then they rested on a rock  
Conveniently low:  
And all the little Oysters stood  
And waited in a row."

"The time has come," Dum stated authoritatively.

"The Walrus said,"

Dum grinned at his brother, no longer upset by the interruptions, it seemed. "To talk of many things:  
Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax-  
Of cabbages-and kings-  
And why the sea is boiling hot-  
And whether pigs have wings."

They spoke in unison once again, giving each other an anticipating glance.

""But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,  
"Before we have our chat;  
For some of us are out of breath,  
And all of us are fat!"

"No hurry!" Dum exclaimed

"Said the Carpenter.  
They thanked him much for that." Dee finished.

"A loaf of bread,"

"the Walrus said,"

A table dropped down onto the set from God only knows where, complete with a basket of bread.

"Is what we chiefly need:  
Pepper and vinegar besides  
Are very good indeed—"

Dum grinned darkly and the lighting became a foreboding shade of gray. The little paper Walrus grew a huge horrid smile, tusks glinting sharply and dangerously.

"Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,  
We can begin to feed.""

They're voices began to ring out with a twisted echo as they forged on in the poem.

""But not on us!" the Oysters cried,  
Turning a little blue.  
"After such kindness, that would be  
A dismal thing to do!""

The light suddenly burst into a bloody red color and faded to black. When the lights came up, the Walrus and the Carpenter were sitting at the table and there were splatters of searing red liquid splashed all around the stage.

"The night is fine,"

"the Walrus said."

"Do you admire the view?"

Dum paused for dramatics before carrying on in his deep grumbling voice. ""It was so kind of you to come!  
And you are very nice!"

The Carpenter said nothing but"

Dee grinned and adopted his lisp once again. "Cut us another slice:  
I wish you were not quite so deaf-  
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame,"

"the Walrus said,"

""To play them such a trick,  
After we've brought them out so far,  
And made them trot so quick!" The Carpenter said nothing but"

"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you,"

"the Walrus said:"

""I deeply sympathize."  
With sobs and tears he sorted out  
Those of the largest size,  
Holding his pocket-handkerchief  
Before his streaming eyes."

The tiny Walrus dabbed at his eyes.

"O Oysters,"

"said the Carpenter,"

"You've had a pleasant run!  
Shall we be trotting home again?'

They grinned and gestured to the stage as a cluster of empty, bloody shells fell onto the table from above.

"But answer came there none-  
And this was scarcely odd, because  
They'd eaten every one."

The lights shut off and the stage deconstructed back into a small silver box. Each brother took a half and put it away in their pockets. They both bowed theatrical, sweeping bows and smiled up at us. "The end!" They chorused.

I blinked in shock at what I had just witnessed. I hesitated before I began to clap. Charles looked up from his notebook, the scribbling sound of his pen on paper halting suddenly. He, too, clapped nervously. Quinn rolled his eyes and ruffled the twins' hair.

"Are you two going to tell that story to every new person you meet?"

The two pouted simultaneously.

"You don't get it, Cat." Dee stated dismissively.

"It has a good moral, doesn't it?" Dum asked, irritably.

Charles blinked and fixed his glasses as they slipped down his nose. "And what's that?"

"You are most vulnerable out of your element!" Dee nodded, as if agreeing with himself.

Dum frowned. "No, no, no! It's never follow Walruses!"

Dee stared at him for a minute, a disappointed, deadpan expression plastered on his face. "Never follow Walruses? Really?"

Dum shrugged.

They suddenly seemed to come to a mutual understanding. They turned to face me with their signature grins.

"The moral of the story is, though you may think someone is a friend, never trust them. You never know whose belly you may wind up in."

* * *

**AN: HER YOU GO! I REALLY LIKE THAT STORY! LOVE IT!**

you should love it and you should love me.


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